Nicola Sturgeon lamented the “brutal” nature of politics as she announced her resignation as first minister after more than eight years in the job.
The outgoing FM insisted that recent “pressures” had no role to play in her decision to resign.
The SNP leader said she was “confident” of leading her party to further electoral success but that the time was “right” for her to step aside.
Speaking at a news conference in Edinburgh earlier, Ms Sturgeon said: “In my head and in my heart I know that the time is now, that it’s right for me, for my party and my country.”
She had been heavily criticsed by some in her own party over her stance on transgender issues and her handling of the Isla Bryson case.
The outgoing FM had also come under fire for saying that her party would fight the next general election as a de-facto referendum on independence, an issue she said the SNP was now “free” to decide following her exit.
